ORANGE COUNTY, CA—The Orange County Transportation Authority, in partnership with Caltrans, has broken ground on the I-405 improvement project, which targets a 16-mile stretch of freeway between Costa Mesa and the Los Angeles County line. The $1.9-billion project will add one regular lane in each direction between Euclid St. and I-605, as promised to voters through Measure M, Orange County's half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements.

The project also adds a second lane in each direction, which, combined with the existing carpool lanes, will create the 405 express lanes. This is the largest highway project currently under construction in California and the largest in OCTA's history.

In addition to constructing the new lanes, the project will build, widen or replace more than 18 bridges and improve freeway access and traffic on local streets—work that is critical to accommodate expected growth in Orange County and throughout the region. Traffic on I-405 is anticipated to grow 30% by 2040.

As Matt Root, CEO of Parallel Capital Partners, told GlobeSt.com in October 2016, the freeway's annual average daily traffic in Seal Beach, a beach town just south of the Orange County/L.A. border, is greater than 375,000, making it one of the highest traffic counts in the nation.

With the 405 Express Lanes, modeled after OCTA's 91 Express Lanes, solo drivers will have the choice to pay a toll to speed up their commute. Carpools of two or more people can use the 405 Express Lanes for free for the first 3.5 years after opening. Cars with three or more people can use the express lanes for free at all times.

“The project is designed to provide options and reliability for drivers and enhance local streets for residents, pedestrians and bicyclists, which is creating what is truly the freeway of the future,”said OCTA CEO Darrell Johnson in a prepared statement. He adds that it took 15 years of planning to reach this point with the project.

As JLL SVP Andy White told GlobeSt.com in August 2017, “Modernizing Orange County's transportation infrastructure is a big task, but it is achievable if the cities and OCTA work together on a plan that will enable the region to remain competitive for office users.”

A significant project benefit that will alleviate commuting time for these users is reducing the time drivers will be sitting in traffic. Projections show that without these improvements, by 2040 it would take more than two hours to travel this 16-mile stretch, but with the improvements travel times are estimated to be reduced to about 30 minutes in the regular lanes and about 15 minutes if a driver chooses to take the 405 Express Lanes.

The I-405 Improvement Project, set to be completed in 2023, is being funded with a combination of local, state and federal funds, including a $629 million federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan. The federal loan will save taxpayers approximately $300 million compared to traditional financing methods.

OC 405 Partners, a team of firms led by OHL USA Inc. and Astaldi Construction Corp., is designing and constructing the project.

OCTA chair Lisa Bartlett, who is also Orange County's Fifth District supervisor, says in the statement, “The project is crucial for much-needed congestion relief as employment, population and housing continue to grow in Southern California.”

Instant Insights /

Largest Highway Construction Project in CA Begins

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